The Fox
by p y r otechnic - - ROYAL
Summary: When stereotypes prove incorrect, love can blossom. AU Laxana
1. The fox ran out

_**The fox ran out on a chilly night**_

_**He prayed for the moon to give him light**_

_**For he'd many a mile to go that night**_

_**Before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o**_

_**For he'd many a mile to go that night**_

_**Before he reached the town-o**_

* * *

The music was intoxicating, Laxus thought from where he sat, keeping guard on the gypsies camped outside the town of Magnolia. It was understandable why the townspeople worried about their children getting lured away, he figured. Of course, as the grandson of the mayor, most trusted him to keep them all safe from the sin that those outsiders lived in.

"Che," he muttered, crossing his arms across his broad chest with a frown. They were all idiots really, fearing the wandering group that visited every six months or so when they still bought their wares. These people did no harm, not really, and there were more people out there to fear. Hell, his own father was more of a threat than the woman who told fortunes to any who wished to pay for a reading.

He had never given in and visited her for that express purpose, but something kept drawing the blond to the tall woman with the easy smile. "Cana Alberona," she had told him her name was, which only fit. His grandfather had told him of a woman years ago named Cornelia Alberona who resembled this one. The two had met when she was visiting the local pub a few years ago, when she had proven that even though she was a woman that didn't mean that she couldn't drink a man under the table.

Two things he had learned about Miss Alberona that day: She liked her alcohol, and she had a beautiful laugh. Her story was something she gave easily, or at least part of it. Apparently her mother had been the fortuneteller before her, and taught her how to read the cards. She never knew her father, which he supposed wasn't odd for her people, but there was a distant look in her eyes when she said that. Other than that, he knew that she honestly believed that the cards she used could tell the future, so long as you could read their tale.

"It's not easy," she confided one afternoon, when he had caught her setting up her table. "But if you know what to look for, everything is right there. The truth, that's all I deal in. Some may not like what I see, but I'm really just the messenger." Then she had grinned at him mischievously. "Maybe I should hire you to protect little old me~"

He had scoffed at the idea. "Please Alberona, I've seen you send a grown man flying with a wine bottle. You don't need anyone to protect you." She had laughed at that, that laugh that affected him more than a mug of ale did. Still, he had hidden it with an arrogant smirk, not wanting her to see just how she got to him. After all, she was a gypsy, a wanderer, and he was the grandson of Makarov Dreyar, mayor of Magnolia. It would be a scandal that could even eclipse his father's banishment.

His family didn't need that.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok, I had this idea for a short AU series inspired by the song "The Fox" (the version I have is by Nickel Creek) for one of my favorite ships. That, and I haven't published much Laxana lately. xD I've already started writing the second chapter, and I'm thinking about maybe six chapters, one for each verse of the song. Dunno when the next one will be up, but we shall see~ Hope you enjoy!


	2. He ran 'till he came

_**He ran till he came to the farmer's pen**_

_**The ducks and the geese were kept therin**_

_**He said "A couple o'you are gonna grease my chin**_

_**Before I leave this town-o, town-o, town-o**_

_**A couple o'you are gonna grease my chin**_

_**Before I leave this town-o"**_

* * *

Cana Alberona was a wanderer by nature. Her mother had always said that she got that from her father, but sometimes the younger girl wondered if Cornelia's lifestyle helped out in that regard. After all, they were always moving, never staying in one place for that long before packing up and making their way off to the next town. It was all she knew, traveling from place to place, never staying for more than a month at a time.

It didn't help how people treated them, she had learned quickly after her mother's death, when she had to start pulling her own weight around the camp. Thankfully, she had her mother's gift with fortunetelling, so the brunette had something to bring to their entertainments without encroaching on someone else's territory. People were possessive like that, she noticed. As she grew, her easy smile and tendency for drinking like a man made her popular enough, so she managed to keep her place safe enough.

Everyone wanted to help the young orphan, after all.

Magnolia was always the place Cana loved the most, however. There she could see the man her mother had described as her father, the town wanderer himself. Gildarts Clive. Part of her wanted to tell him of who she was, but she held back each time they met. After all, he was well respected within the town, and she was nothing to most of the people. So instead she just watched whenever they were in town at the same time, a tankard of ale in her hand.

Of course, he wasn't the only person she noticed. The mayor's grandson, a large blond male with the name of Laxus seemed to show up often enough wherever she was, something Cana liked to tease him about. Not that she was complaining, though. He made her laugh, really laugh, in a way that few were capable of doing since Cornelia's death. For that, she was grateful.

And for that she refused to read his cards. No, she would not allow herself to be burdened with how he was going to die, something she risked with each reading. It was a stressful occupation, something few understood, but Cana had the blood for it, so she would do it. Alcohol helped, at least, so she drank heavily, ignoring the worried glances from others. All the secrets, they overwhelmed at times.

She cried at times.

He couldn't find out of this. She wouldn't let him.

* * *

**AN: **Yep, here's chapter two! It's AU day for Laxana week, so I thought I'd get this up for it~ Other than that, reviews are lovely? Yesplz.


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